October 1, 2008 - Thursday morning, Nintendo of America is set to hold a two-day press event in which it will showcase its fall software lineup and make a few big announcements. But Nintendo of Japan beat its U.S. subsidiary to the punch by holding a Tokyo press conference of its own about 12 hours earlier. We live-blogged the show, which housed several major revelations both on the hardware and software fronts, and have provided a recap of all the announcements and updates for you below.

The event started with a bang. Nintendo president Satoru Iwata took the stage and immediately announced the "DSi," the next iteration of the company's hugely popular DS handheld. Iwata stated that even though the DS continues to sell at a record rate, Nintendo believes it can still expand the market with the modified "DSi."

The DSi is notably smaller than its predecessor. Roughly 3.24 inches thick, the handheld is 12 percent thinner than DS Lite -- specifically, by 2.6 millimeters. The reduction in size has not come without a sacrifice -- specifically, the omission of GBA game slot.

On the other hand, the DSi features several advancements and upgrades. It includes, for example, a built-in .3-megapixel camera (capable of maximum picture-taking resolutions of 640x480). DSi owners will be able to use special software to fully edit pictures snapped with the camera using the stylus and the device's touch-screen. (We originally translated that DSi's screens were both touch compatible, but that is reportedly incorrect.) That's another big addition -- both screens of DSi will be touch-compatible. Meanwhile, the handheld will feature an SD card slot and the ability to play AAC music and other sound files. Users will be able to use the stylus and touch-screens to change the pitch and playback speed of music.

Nintendo noted that DSi owners will be able to connect wirelessly to the DS Shop, where they can use Nintendo Points to buy and download games and software to internal memory aboard the system. This type of downloadable software is called DSWare. Software will be separated into four categories: Free, 200 Points, 500 Points and Premium (800 Points). If you connect even once to the Shop by March 2010, Nintendo will give you 1,000 free Points as a present.

The DS web browser will also be built into DSi.

Stateside DS owners will have already heard and possibly even sampled Nintendo's DS Download Stations, situated at various participating retailers across America (and Japan, for that matter). These kiosks, which enable users to download software to their DS, have gone into "phase two," according to Nintendo. They will be featured at McDonald's in the future.

DSi will be released in white, matte black, and will go on sale November 1 for 18900 yen ($180 U.S.). This is only for Japan. No U.S. date has been confirmed, although we fully expect NOA to announce a firm date at its own conference, scheduled to take place in mere hours.

Nintendo concluded the DSi portion of the event by showing off a couple of games, most notably Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time, a DS game that will also be playable on Wii, presumably in the same way that GBA Four Swords could also be played on GameCube. No wires, though, obviously -- and thankfully.

To address the lack of Wii system memory, Mr. Iwata announced that future Wii software can be downloaded directly to the SD memory card. Finally! It will also be possible to easily move software from SD card to the Wii system memory. Say good-bye to the weekly cleaning of the fridge, in other words. The only bad news? This long-anticipated option will not become available to Wii owners until spring 2009.
To increase the ratio of Internet-connected Wiis in Japan, Nintendo revealed it's making available a three-minute demo movie with the machine, called "What's Possible With Wii." A specific Wi-Fi adapter will be sold -- we presume a Nintendo-made device.

Nintendo will also offer a referral bonus of 500 free Wii Points for consumers who successfully convince their friends and family to buy Wii.

Nintendo showed off the latest version of Animal Crossing: City Folk, which can utilize data from the DS version and also supports Miis. We already knew all of this. There'll be a version in Japan bundled with Wii Speak. The package will go on sale November 20 for 7,800 yen.

A new series of software is coming out called "Let's Play On Wii," according to Iwata. The series will bring back popular titles like Pikmin that were released on GameCube, but they will adapted for play on Wii. Hopefully this is not the Pikmin 3 Miyamoto referenced at E3 2008.

Hardcore Wii fans should be thrilled to know that Nintendo did pull back the curtain on a number of major Wii releases scheduled for next year. Brace yourselves. Punch-Out!! and Sin & Punishment 2 were officially revealed for the console and shown in video form. Other Wii titles coming next year include Another Code R, Samurai Warriors 3, a new 'mothership' "Tales of" title, and more.

Nintendo's own Shigeru Miyamoto eventually took the stage at the event to demo (at great length) Wii Music. Miyamoto explained that kids are going to love Wii Music, but that it's not just a game for the young crowd. (We remain skeptical of that claim.) As proof, he called upon famed conductor Yutaka Sado to demonstrate the simple game. Shortly there after, the conference came to an end, but not before another sizzle real was shown, displaying a number of additional (decidedly epic) Wii and DS releases from third-parties and from Nintendo.

Absent from the event was Kid Icarus, first expected to show at E3 2008. Although the title remains very much in development, it is not expected to show at NOA's stateside conference, either. However, U.S. readers can look forward to our coverage of efforts like The Conduit and MadWorld, both expected to be playable from San Francisco on Thursday.

Click here to watch the montage of Wii games shown

Games shown in the above montage: Let's Tap from SEGA. 428 from SEGA. Family Ski World Ski and Snowboard from Namco / Bandai. Karaoke Joysound from Hudson. Taiko no Tatsujin Wii from Namco / Bandai. Tenchu 4 from From Software. Harvest Moon: Waku Waku Animal March from Marvelous. Rune Factory Frontier from Marvelous. And Shape Boxing Wii de Enjoyment by Rocket Company.

We're going to have much more on these games and more from the American presentations soon, but we have to note that we're already pleasantly surprised by the announcements made. It's clear that 2009 is shaping up to be one of Wii's biggest years.
http://wii.ign.com/articles/915/915504p1.html?RSSwhen2008-10-01_213400&RSSid=915504

http://wii.ign.com/articles/915/915544p1.html

Above links have several pictures of different games like Punch-Out!!. I'm really excited for Wii, so I'm probably going to buy it sometime next year. Looks like 2009 is going to be big year for Wii.

The only thing from that I'm interested in is "Another Code R", what a dumb name but for those that don't know that's the sequel to the AMAZING point and click adventure Trace Memory for the DS. Man I loved that game so I cant wait for that.(nana2)

CaptNKILL

10-02-08, 03:09 PM

Wow, I sure am glad I didn't buy into the initial Wii hype. The Trace Memory sequel is the only game on the system that looks interesting... including everything that's out right now.

NarcissistZero

10-02-08, 04:18 PM

Yeah, some people seem excited... I read that and was like "thank God I sold my Wii when they were getting mad amounts of money."

NaitoSan

10-02-08, 04:39 PM

You all are too boring or think you're too old for most Wii games. :p

I love Punch-Out!! and it looks awesome (better than EA's crappy wannbee, Facebreaker). It looks much like NES version but in cel shading. I used to own Sin & Punishment on N64, man that was awesome. I'm looking forward to Pikman 3 and other games that yet to be announced. Oh yeah, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles (Yes, I did enjoy GC version). Kid Icarus too, hmm there's more that I'm looking forward to.

I like to be a kid sometimes... yeah why not? Some of those games brings back old memories. :D

EDIT: Oh yeah, there's a rumor that Wii 2 with HD gaming will be announced or coming out in 2011.